Garbage 101

Remember those days when your Dad (or Mom) would put the garbage out for the garbage men to collect?  I don't remember where they picked up our garbage, but they probably came into the back yard area (calling that tiny patch a back yard is very generous!)

The Sunset Scavenger Service took care of our garbage and thinking back on them as an adult, I have to admire their ability to park that huge garbage truck on our steep hill and schlep our garbage can out and dump the garbage.  My friend Stephen's father was a garbage man and his grandfather, who had done garbage in is day, owned the large apartment building in which they all lived (Stephen still lives there).  In my post-Soprano mind, I think often about how wealthy the family seemed to be and how they handled garbage for a living.  Was there a San Francisco mafia in the 1950s?

Those were the years when we never thought about things like ecology or taking care of the environment.  When we went for a drive and had papers to get rid of, we didn't stick them in a garbage can, we tossed them out the window.  It was a shock when Life Magazine's "watchbird" called us litterers and once I knew the watchbird was watching us, I felt guilty and tried not to litter any more.

But those were good times.  Carefree times.  Someone picked up our garbage, whether from the kitchen or what we tossed out the window.  We didn't know who they were, but somehow it always got picked up and we didn't think about it--especially little kids.

In this politically correct/ecologically conscious era, I blush at our wild extravagances.  But we were the victims of circumstances.

When we moved to Davis, we bought a nice big aluminum garbage can and had the choice of having our garbage picked up on the curb or they would come inside the fence and pick it up.  Being cheap, we opted for taking garbage to the curb, while our neighbors had theirs picked up inside their fence so they didn't have to have garbage cans sitting out in plain sight.  Every Monday night, Walt filled the big garbage can from all the wastebaskets and smaller cans and lugged it out to the curb.

All that changed when the City of Davis started being ecologically conscious and gave everybody in town two garbage cans (on wheels!).  The big one was for most of our garbage, but the smaller one had two sides.  In one side you threw away your glass or recyclable plastic and the other side was for paper.  Both cans were rolled out onto the street on garbage day and gone were the days when you could pay for personalized behind the fence service.  We were now all equal and my garbage as just as good (or bad) as anybody else's.

Our garbage day is Tuesday and on Tuesday everywhere you look there are garbage cans lined up along the curb.

Wednesday was the day they picked up yard waste, which you piled on the street so that the garbage trucks could come along with their huge jaws and pick it all up and drop it into that thing that mulches it instantly.

Things have gone along like this for a long time.  We carefully separate paper from garbage and it goes into the paper side, while the wine bottles and plastic bottles go into the other side.

But Davis isn't called the town of "all things right and relevant" for nothing.  Awhile ago, it was decided that separating things into garbage, paper, and recyclables wasn't enough.  Now we have to divide the garbage so that we separate out the organics.

They warned us about it several months ahead of time.

We started getting information.  And we eventually got a third garbage can plus a little organic bucket for inside the house, where we put all of our apple cores, banana peels, and things that won't fit down the garbage disposal.  For some reason, now paper towels aren't paper, they are organics.

Now we have three cans, the Papa can, the Mama can, and the baby can.

And we have a wee little individual can into which we put the week's food scraps--and paper 

towels--to empty into the big can because they only pick up the big can once a month (so you have to remember which day).

(The problem with the little can is that as the week gets longer, especially on hot days, you can smell the rotting food.  You can buy special compostable bags..and that helps a little...but I'm still aware of rotting food.)

But the real problem is that it's darn complicated!  There is a FOUR PAGE booklet with all of the instructions for what to out where.

The list of what to recycle and what NOT to recycle is extensive and gone are the days when you just throw something away.  In the plastics bin, for example, containers must be empty, remove caps and lids and place in card separately, labels are OK.  Aluminum foil is also OK  But though this is for glass, no light bulbs, mirrors, dishes and pans, porcelain and ceramics.

For organics you can put greasy pizza boxes, take out food packaging, and a bunch of other things, as well as yard clippings.  Walt usually has yard clippings every week...now he has to hold it for a month...and will it fit?

But here is my problem right now.

This is the wrapper from some cheese.  It is foil, but it also has a paper label and, as you can see, it is smeared with food.  Is it paper, metal, or organic?

I'm too old for change.  I may have to move.

P.S.  Walt read this and told me that they do pick up organics once a week; it's the yard piles that only get picked up once a month -- see?  I am too stupid to learn this!
 

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: The Gal's Meme, Part Two

What did your last text message say?
"Thanks.  I was in SF all day."

Are you someone’s best friend? Tell us about your friendship.
I met Char when she was grad resident in a UC Berkeley dormitory.  She seemed very stern; I was a little afraid of her,and I was sure she didn't like me.  60 years later we've been friends all these years.  We each had five kids and raised them together, my weirdest, funniest experiences have been with Char.  We have traveled around the world several times together, with our husbands.

What are you doing tomorrow?
My calendar is blank, which means I will probably have lunch with my mother (who has dementia and lives 5 minutes from me).

What do you think of when you think of Australia?
I am remembering the six weeks I spent in Western Australia...the wild flowers all in bloom, watching the dogs chase kangaroos around the cemetery grounds, standing in the water while dolphins swam around my feet, petting a koala. feeding kangaroos and riding a camel, the gorgeous limestone formations of The Pinnacles National Monument, the aqua blue of the Indian Ocean, and the camaraderie of good friends.

Last person you talked to on the phone? What about?
I called my 3rd & 5th grade teacher, who is now 91 years old and living in a convalescent home in Iowa.  We talked about old times and i told her I was meeting with 5 of my former classmates, whom I had not seen in 60 years.

Any plans today? Do tell.
I saw two plays this weekend and will be writing the reviews for both.

What makes you happy?
Spending time with my granddaughters.

What’s your favorite room where you live?
My office, which my son just redid for me.  I live in it!

Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
His initials are D.T.

If you are jealous of anyone, tell us about it.
I am jealous of anyone who has a mother without dementia.

What is the most serious relationship you’ve had?
Walt and I have been married for 51 years. That's pretty serious.

Should anyone be jealous of you?
I don't know why.

What do you usually do during the work day?
As a retired person, I don't have a "work day"

Tell us about someone that you really don’t care for.
Again, his initials are D.T., but I feel sorry for him because he's obviously losing his mind.

Do you use the phrase “Have a good one” daily?
I don't think I've ever used it.

How old do you wish you’d be turning on your next birthday? Why?
I'll be turning 74 and I'm happy with that.  I don't want to go back and do it all over again.

Do you still like amusement parks? Tell us about your last trip to one.
Oh my word.  I last went to Disneyland in 2000.  I'm Disneyland-ed out and without little kids any more, I'm not an amusement park enthusiast.

How did you get one of your scars?
To my knowledge, I only have one, which is an almost invisible 1-2" scar on my arm where a nail from a box I was helping my friend carry in high school cut me.  (I just looked and I can't find it any more.)

Will you still love me tomorrow?
Will you still be lovable?

Saturday 9

13 August 2016

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Into You (2016)


... Because Cat suggested it.
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.


1) In this video, Ariana Grande and her boyfriend take off on a motorcycle. Are your trips usually carefully planned? Or would you prefer to just spontaneously get up and go?

Kind of both, I guess.  For "big" trips, we plan with our travel agent.  But I do like the idea of just getting on the road and winging it.  Walt is more of a planner type.

2) As they ride through the desert, they pass several cacti. This makes Sam sad, since she had a potted cactus on her desk and managed to kill it in no time. Do you have luck with house plants?

I kill mint.  I kill dandelions.  At one time I had an epiphany and actually kept plants going for several years.  Our house looked like a jungle.  But the one day I looked at my overgrown living room and said to the plants, "I just don't care about you any more.  Slowly they all died.  Now I have nothing green living in my house (unless it's mold on something in the refrigerator)

3) This song mentions the appeal of acting "a little bit scandalous." Tell us about a time you were the subject of gossip.

I probably have been because I can be rather bizarre, but if I was, I was not aware of it, which is a good thing because I am also very sensitive.

4) Ariana's mother is an executive at a company that makes, among other things, alarm systems. Is your home protected by a security system?

No.  It's protected by two dogs.  The terrier would probably lick any would-be robber and beg for tummy rubs, but the Chihuahua would kill him.

5) Ariana has her own fragrance, "Ari," available at major department stores. When you're at the mall, do you accept the scent strips you're handed? Or do you say, "no, thank you."

I say no thank you.  Many years ago I had a friend who was deathly (and that is no exaggeration) allergic to scent.  It was so bad she was often house-bound.  I learned then about scent allergies and how toxic they can be and I stopped wearing scent in deference to those around me who might also be allergic.  Since then I have found that I am really bothered by heavy scents on others -- not allergic, but just not used to them.

6) Ariana has said Mariah Carey is her "favorite human being on the planet" and her biggest musical influence. Who is your favorite female vocalist?

Since 1953, it has been Judy Garland, though she hasn't done much since 1969.

7) A big fan of horror movies, she admits Freddy Krueger of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies was her favorite growing up. Do you like scary movies?

No.  At least nothing more scary than The Sixth Sense.  I have not seen any slasher movies.

8) She had a brief relationship with rapper Big Sean. Do you like rap music?

No.

9) Random question: Which kid were you in school -- Class Clown, Brain, Jock, Stoner, Cheerleader, Teacher's Pet?

Since I was usually the "good girl," I guess I was teacher's pet, though some teachers didn't think so.  I was definitely not class clown, jock, stoner or cheerleader, though some might have thought of me as a brain (I never did),  You can fool a lot of people if they always see you reading.  Reading was my way of dealing with social anxiety (still is).

Today at Logos

To quote my mother lately, I'm getting old, guys!  For 16 years now, I have often stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. to get tomorrow's entry written.  More and more nights now, the idea of getting up from my comfortable recliner and coming into my office is moderately overwhelming, when the thought of lying down and going to sleep is so much more inviting.  So you'll discover that probably at least half of the time, entries are posted in the morning of the date instead of the night before.  Which may not make a difference to anybody but me, but I thought I'd mention it!

So...Logos.  Sandy is still on vacation so there was a kid working, and I guess the woman with him was his mother (Walt told me later that they are neighbors).  At the end of the day Susan asked me if the kid had said anything about something and I told her in all honesty that he didn't. say. a. word.  Seemed like he didn't know who I was or why I was there, took his time about leaving the front desk, and left without saying goodbye.  So much for chit chat!

A couple of African American men came in, the one with the beard and wearing bright red plaid cargo pants and a red shirt, the other was carrying some take-out food and 3 or 4 of those commemorative rubber bands on his wrist.  They didn't buy anything, but waved and said "have a good day" when they left.

The next guy was very ordinary looking and bought 3 science fiction books and a book by Cesar Milan.  He left saying "I'm so excited!" (to be getting those books).

A very tall man with Einstein white hair and a goatee, wearing shorts and carrying a book bag was looking through the foreign language books, but I didn't notice when he left.

A woman came in with two bargain books.  She laughed and told me she had been in the day before and bought three books then and that she was addicted. I told her I understood!

By this time I had chosen "Next" by Michael Crichton to read.  It was one of the ones I had donated and figured that I could take it home if I got into it.  It's one of those gene-manipulation/cross species things.  I noted, with some amusement, that everywhere I looked, I found books that I had donated on display!  We brought the last two boxes in yesterday and I told Susan she now had all of my donated books, but from the smallest of the book rooms in the house.  Lord help her if we ever start donating the books in the big bedroom, which is almost the size of Logos.

A tall Peggy-type wearing an aqua top and denim skirt came in.  The resemblance to Peggy ended here because her blouse, while neat, was not ironed (it would have been) and Peggy doesn't wear skirts.  She left her heavy book bag at the desk and browsed for a long time, ultimately buying "Gilgamesh" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster."

A tall guy with "Silverson Pickups" and a big owl on his t-shirt, wearing bright green trainers, was looking through science fiction.  He disappeared for so long, I thought he had left but about half an hour later he showed up to buy "Watership Down" and "Stories of Mark Twain."  He paid by card, but it was a debit card and the machine rejected it, so he left, went to the bank and was back in 10 minutes to buy his books.

A British woman, nattily dressed in black and white (but with bright salmon colored trainers) came in to ask if we had law text books for her daughter.  Sadly, we don't.

An older couple came in.  The guy didn't stay long and left quickly, but the woman spent a lot of time going through the craft book section and ultimately bought 4 books on quilts.  I told her it sounded like she was going to be busy, and she admitted she only bought them for the pictures.

My friend arrived at 4:30 and bought a set of booklets on King Arthur.  He said that if he had met any of his grammar school classmates he wouldn't recognize them.  I told him I probably wouldn't have either, but we'd contacted each other on Facebook.

A mom with two girls about the age of Brianna and Lacie came in.  The girls were dressed in matching bright royal blue dresses made of some flimsy material.  The dresses had long scooped hems in back and some sort of embroidered panel in the front.  One had what looked like oversized Converse high tops and the others was in flip flops.  The girls didn't buy anything, but the mom bought a very heavy book by George R. Martin.  I told her it felt like, at $6, she was getting her money's worth!

Two middle aged women came in with bargain books.  They mentioned the guy whose card had been rejected and told me of a Davis friend who was shopping in Fairfield (about 15-20 miles away) and had her card rejected.  When she got home, she had an alert from her bank saying someone was trying to use her card in Fairfield!  What? You have to notify the bank if you're going out of your home city???

A very tall guy with a female friend came in.  He bought 'The Prophet" and she bought "On Death and Dying."  Sounds like light reading for the two of them!

Then there was the woman who bought 3 books on Australia (one a box of "Australian words and phrases--didn't realize Australian was a foreign language!) and a box of Tarot cards.  I asked her if she were going to travel to Australia and she replied that she was buying these for her boy friend, who was going for a few weeks doing research (she told me what he was doing, but with my impaired hearing, I didn't understand her),  I mentioned that I had been to Australia for 3 weeks and said that I had only gone to Western Australia.  She appeared shocked.  "WESTERN Australia?" she asked.  "Does anybody even LIVE there?"

I assured her that there were a couple of hardy souls who eked out an existence in the wilds of Western Australia...and mentioned the city of Perth, for example.

Two women came in looking for a bathroom and I said we didn't have a public restroom, sending them to the bank across the street.

About then Peter and Walt arrived together, followed short by Susan and dog Sammy.  I packed up to leave.

We watched the wonderful night of the Olympics and the accomplishments of Simone Biles and Aly Raisman (watching her parents was almost more fun than watching her), and especially watching Michael Phelps win his 22n gold medal (he has enough of them now to decorate a Christmas tree!)

Then, exhausted, I went to sleep and left this for the morning

60 Years

This year marks the 60th year since my graduation from grammar school.  Sandy, who lives in LA, comes up here once a year and four years ago contacted us and asked if we could get together for lunch.  Judy and I showed up and we had such a good time we did it again the next year.  We had invited Lois, Maureen to join us, and it wasn't until the third year that Lois came along.  She promised Maureen would join us this time.  Gayle and Maryanne came too, for the first time.

We were from all over the place.  Judy lives in Marin County, across the Golden Gate bridge, Maryanne lives south of San Francisco, by the airport.  I live in Davis.  Gayle lives in Concord, which I pass on the way to SF.  Sandy is in LA and Lois lives in south San Francisco.  Maureen was finally going to come this year, but backed out at the last minute.

I suggested we have lunch at Greens Restaurant which, in my opinion, has the very best view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the city.

(fog rolling in over the bridge, cruise ship heading toward bridge)

Since Gayle's vision has deteriorated to where she can no longer drive, I offered to pick her up.  In truth, I was a little nervous about it.  We are Facebook friends and, based on her postings, we are exact opposites on every important issue of the day...and we both seem to be very emotional about our views.  I was concerned about how we would survive an hour in the car together.

When we were kids, we lived a block and a half from each other and walked to school together every day.  It was she who told me about this good movie she had seen, called A Star Is Born.  So she is responsible for my Judy Garland fanatacism!

I need not have worried.  It's been 60 years since we saw each other and by the time we covered 60 years, mostly kids, grandkids, health issues, and which of our friend/relatives had died we were in San Francisco.

It was fun driving through the city with her because we both lived in the same city, remember the same buildings, are upset about the same changes.  Nothing had to be explained because we both knew what we were talking about.

Greens is a vegetarian restaurant, but I have never had anything there that wasn't wonderful.  Today I ordered a squash and pesto pizza, which was fabulous.

It was large enough to feed me half and have half left over to bring home to Walt for is dinner.

We talked and talked and talked.  Maryanne told me a memory she had about me that I have zero memory of.  She said she was having difficulty reading in 2nd or 3rd grade...she could read, but she could not comprehend.  Her father suggested she talk with someone who liked to read and get a recommendation.  I apparently recommended a book called "The Waif," which she liked so much she came back and had me write a list of books for her.  She credits me with helping her learn to read!  That was very nice to hear.

I also learned that my father taught Gayle's mother to drive.  I never knew that (she said her mother got 100% on her driver's test and then put the license in her purse and never drove again!)

Sandy is our go-to person for news of former classmates.  She seems to have kept in touch with a lot of people and knows more than most of us (except Lois, who knows a lot too).  Which is pretty amazing, considering she lives in Los Angeles!  I am embarrassed at how little I know about our former classmates!  And, in fact, how little I remember of them from when we were in school together  The problem was I was very shy and usually spent every recess curled up on top of a structure that covered a machine of some sort, reading.  Everybody remembers that I was always reading.

We talked abut our parents and how many of us are now dealing or have dealt with either sick parents or parents like my mother. We talked about who had gone to college, and what work we had done, if we worked. And of course there was the usual organ recital -- who had which body parts replaced, who had suffered major health issues, whose vision or hearing is failing,  Two of us walk with canes. That's always the inevitable part of meetings like this, and it's always sad, but also somehow comforting.  "At least I don't have HER problem...!"  We also tried to make a list of which of our other classmates had died.

It was just a delightful lunch and we left determined to put together a reunion of as many classmates as we can find next year.  It may be only the six of us meeting again, but that would be OK too.

There was a reunion a few years back, in 1990

The lady in brown in the front is our 3rd and 5th grade teacher, Sister Kathleen (who was Sister Mary Bernardone when we knew her).  I am embarrassed to say that the only reason I didn't attend this reunion was that I was embarrassed about my weight.  Now that I've given up worrying about it, I "let it all hang out" today and nobody said anything.  I won't let that keep me from any reunion we are able to put together next year.

It Had to happen

Yesterday was a pretty much laid back day, other than lunch with my mother and a big nap in the afternoon to prepare me for reviewing a show (Nice Work If You Can Get It) at Music Circus at night.

Because I am going to meet some friends for lunch (which should be interesting to write about after it happens), I had to get the review written as soon as we got home from the theater, and then was so sleepy, I went right to sleep.

This morning I'm rushing around getting ready to drive to San Francisco for lunch.

Ain't got no time for Funny the World.  I'm taking a day off!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

One day you're burying your best friend and then you turn around and discover that you are commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of that sad day!

We held our 30th GRUB yesterday, the Gala Reinterment of Uncle Buddy, remembering Gilbert yet again.

There were 8 of us last night.  The first time we held this dinner there were four of us and the group grew up to near 20, I think.  Then we started losing people, some because they lost interest, three because they decided to share this celebration with Gilbert himself, and have passed on to whatever is beyond this life.

Jeanne Ziaja was the first to leave, all too soon and a much too young age.  Her husband John continued to join us until health problems kept him housebound.  Then we lost Adrian MacNamara, who an actor and also the first president of the Lamplighters.  He served as president for many years.  His wife Connie came for a year or two after Adrian's death, but it was a long drive for her.  Then Will Connolly, one of Gilbert's best friends, had the audacity to die.  A big spark left with him and he is still sorely missed, especially because he was the organizer of the event year after year.  

The wonderful actress Marie Clyde, who was one of the earliest Lamplighters and who had been Gilbert's friend and shared a house with him for many years, just gradually stopped coming.

We kept the group to people who had been his friends and didn't let word get out that we even had this gathering.  We made a big mistake last year, inviting a friend of a friend, who worked with Gilbert but wasn't really his friend.  She ended up telling lots of people who were hurt because they felt they should be included.  We decided not to invite new people again.

In the beginning we started meeting at restaurants that had been Gilbert's favorites, but over the 30 years, most of those have closed their doors, so we started trying new places, like the Portuguese Cultural Center (for no particular reason except the food was good and it was reasonably priced).  We went to the San Francisco Yacht Club once, because Will had connections and the food was good, and pretty spendy.  For two or three years we went to restaurant called Delancy Street, which was a place where the food was plentiful and reasonably priced, but the cooking and wait staff were all people from recovery programs trying to get their lives back together again. (I think we always had the best service there of anyplace).

In the last three years we went to a little restaurant in the San Francisco Presidio, which used to be a military base.  I can't remember what this building was, but it is now a trendy little restaurant, across the road from what used to be a military hospital and is now the headquarters of Industrial Light and Magic.

The problem with all of these venues, especially in the years when we had a big group, is that you only get to talk with the people directly around you.  I went for years without visiting with Diana, the contractor of the Lamplighter orchestra, who somehow usually sat at the other end of the table.  Other than greetings at the start and end of the evening we didn't speak at all, though I enjoyed visiting with those who were seated across and next to me.

The evenings weren't always without problems.  We always split the bill rather than try to figure out who had what, but at least one couple had more expensive tastes than others of us and ordered expensive meals and very expensive wines.  (I remember one night where settling the bill took longer than eating the meal and nobody was satisfied at the end). After a couple of years of difficulty about the bill, especially for people who were on limited incomes, they finally stopped coming.

So we have finally come down to 8 of us and this year Shelley decided to host it at her house.  What a GREAT idea!  For one thing she lives in a part of San Francisco I didn't know existed and can't believe we actually found.

She has a great patio where we sat and were entertained by the lovely Miss Lovely.

We had hors d'oeuvres and wine outside in the delicious 65 degree weather and chatted for a long time, then went indoors to have the main course(s) -- roast beef, chicken and sushi?? -- and dessert.  Best of all, we could all participate in all the discussions and, of course, there was lots of discussion about The Mikado.  We were the only ones who had actually seen the show.  (Diana, who is in the orchestra has heard it many times, of course).  There were differences in opinion about the wisdom of doing it because of threats from the Asian Community -- and how it was done, but everyone plans to see it and I hope we get a chance to share opinion about what they think of the production.

Once we reached 25 years after Gilbert's death, and especially after Will died, I started thinking maybe we had done enough, since none of us -- not even Marie -- knew him that long in real life, but we always go for "one more time" and at the end of the "one more time" I'm always glad we did it and ready to do it again next year.

I truly love these people.